Reality check for ‘wonder material’

Topological insulators, a class of materials which has been investigated for just over a decade, have been heralded as a new 'wonder material', as has graphene. But so far, topological insulators have not quite lived up to the expectations fueled by th...

Topological insulators, a class of materials which has been investigated for just over a decade, have been heralded as a new 'wonder material', as has graphene. But so far, topological insulators have not quite lived up to the expectations fueled by theoretical studies. Physicists now have an idea about why.